As Hokage Version 1
by Yondaime Namikaze
Summary: This story is how I envision Naruto ending. This is the "sad" version. By request, I have also written a "happy" version, so be sure to look for that. Credits to my friend Lace who helped me with encouragement. Hope everyone enjoys reading As Hokage.


**Here's another of my famous oneshots. This one is kinda like The Foreseen Sacrifice, but it's Naruto's turn to defend his village…As Hokage.**

**Hope everyone enjoys and this is how I see Naruto ending, by the way.**  
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As Hokage  
Grade Level: 4.8

-2 years prior to main storyline-

Sakura came out of the hospital room to see Naruto, in his Hokage robes, sitting in the waiting room. "Rokudaime-sama, everything went smoothly. You have a healthy baby girl."

Naruto stood up quickly. "Sakura, how's Hinata?" he asked, remembering how his own mother had died in childbirth.

Sakura, understanding, smiled. "Hinata's doing fine as is your daughter. Would you like to see them?"

Naruto nodded. "Would I ever!"

Sakura, smiling, led her former teammate to a room. Walking into the room, Naruto saw the two most beautiful girls in his life now. One he'd known practically all his life and the other for not even an hour.

Hinata looked up as she heard the door open. "Sakura-san, Naruto-kun," she whispered.

Naruto walked swiftly over to the bed where Hinata lay. Once there, he got his first real glimpse of his daughter. She had small tufts of blond hair that she had obviously inherited from Naruto and the lavender eyes of Hinata. "She's beautiful. Did you name her yet?"

Hinata shook her head. "I wanted to do it together, since she's ours."

Naruto smiled. "Sounds good to me." He thought for a minute, but nothing good came to mind. "Got any ideas?"

Hinata laughed. "I thought we could name her something like…Kiari."

Naruto processed the information for a minute then he smiled. "Kiari…it's beautiful," he replied with a smile. "Kiari it is then."

A couple days later, the family left the hospital, unknown to the wrench that fate would soon throw into their happy life.

-A year later, 1 year prior to main story line-

Kiari, like all young kids, grew up fast and Naruto cherished every moment. He was there to help her walk. He was there to help her learn to eat. He was there when she said her first words.

Naruto couldn't believe how quickly his little girl was growing up and it scared him. Life moved so fast and, sometimes, he just wished that he could stop it before it could keep going.

Naruto and Hinata Namikaze's little girl was growing up and, Naruto recognized, was taking after her father. She had a mischievous side to her and Naruto prayed that she'd never do the kind of stuff that he used to do when he was a kid.

Naruto's only regret was that he could never be home as much anymore to be with his wife and daughter. As Hokage, it was his duty to keep the village safe, even if it meant working long hours and coming home after his wife and daughter had long gone to bed.

Still, he knew that he had a long life ahead of him and that nothing, not even his wife and daughter, would stop him from living his dream; his dream to be recognized as Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. He never even imagined that his life was rapidly speeding to the end.

-That Fateful Night, Main Storyline-

The winds tore through the Leaf Village, rocking houses and creating storms. The Bijuu was strong and efforts to keep it away from the village were failing miserably. Shouts from brave Shinobi could be heard as they tried to hold off the village. "Hold the attack and wait for The 6th Hokage!"

Inside the Hokage Tower, Naruto ran his hand through his blonde hair for perhaps the millionth time. "How'd it come to this?" Secretly, he pulled out the two frames he kept in his desk. One was of his father, Minato Namikaze, the 4th Hokage. The other frame was a picture of his family from about a half year ago. Naruto smiled as he took in the way Kiari mirrored him. She was definitely his daughter and the family looked happy together.

Naruto smiled as he placed the frames in his Hokage jacket. He quickly picked up anything else that held value to him and placed those in his pockets too. Lastly, he scribbled a note to his assistant, Shikamaru Nara, telling who he appointed as 7th Hokage. This was it; there was no going back now.

Quickly, Naruto ran to his house. It was difficult because he was running into the wind. He approached his house and ran into the door, almost killing and getting killed by Hinata.

"Naruto, what're you gonna do?" she asked him, overcome with fear.

Naruto sighed, knowing that Hinata wasn't going to like what he was about to say. "I'm going to use that jutsu. The one that my dad used. The Reaper Death Seal."

Gasping, Hinata told him, "No, you can't. That jutsu. It's a death sentence. Don't you care about us!?"

Sighing again, Naruto, with tears in his eyes, told her, "I do care about you two, so very much. That's why I must do this. There is no other way. These Bijuu, they're strong. Too strong to be taken lightly. I, of all people, know this most of all. That jutsu is the only way. It worked for my father. It can work for me." Reaching into his pockets, he pulled out the two picture frames and handed them to Hinata. "Cherish these for me, please."

Without saying a word, Hinata took the picture frames from him and nodded. Naruto grabbed her into a tight hug and kissed her passionately. As they broke apart, he whispered in her ear for the last time, "I love you."

Naruto started to leave the house, but Hinata stopped him. "Aren't you going to say goodbye to Kiari?"

"Sure." Naruto started to head up the stairs to Kiari's bedroom, but a small sound stopped him. He looked over to where the sound came from and saw his 2 year (almost 3 year old) daughter hiding there. She looked almost like Hinata when she was younger.

Naruto put on a brave smile and kneeled down. "Hi, kiddo."

Kiari ran to her dad and hugged him as tightly as she could. "Daddy, are you leaving us?"

Naruto wiped the fresh tears from his eyes with the sleeve of his Hokage jacket. "Just for a little while," he lied, hoping that it would suffice. "It's official Hokage business."

Kiari snuggled into Naruto's chest. "Come home soon, okay?"

Naruto hugged his daughter tightly one last time and then released her and stood up. "Good bye." To Hinata, he added, "I'm sorry" in a whisper.

After leaving the house, Naruto ran to the forest clearing where his Shinobi were defending against the Bijuu. They greeted him by saying. "Lord Hokage, thank goodness."

Naruto smiled at them. "Thank you all for doing what you could. Now I must ask you to leave. I can handle this Bijuu myself. Please do not interfere."

The Shinobi nodded, understanding that, as Hokage, Naruto's words were an order. One Shinobi held back until the others had gone. Then, he met up with Naruto.

"You're going to do it, aren't you, Naruto? You really are going to follow in his footsteps. The 4th Hokage's Legacy."

Naruto nodded. "I'm sorry, Iruka-sensei. It's the only way. You know that these Bijuu are strong and no jutsu will hold it for long. The only way is for me to seal it into myself and take it to death. The price is my life, but, as Hokage, I understand."

Iruka gave his former student and surrogate son a hug. As Naruto hugged back, he softly told Iruka. "Take care of Hinata and Kiari for me."

Releasing Naruto, Iruka assure him, "Will do. Now, go. The village needs you."

Naruto nodded. "Goodbye, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka left and Naruto ran toward closer to where the Bijuu was. When he got as close as he could, he performed the summoning jutsu and summoned Gamabunta. After filling the Chief Toad in about the situation, the Rokudaime got onto the back of the toad and they approached the Bijuu.

"Are you sure that you really want to go through with this, Naruto?" the toad asked him, clarifying. "You have your whole life ahead of you. Why don't you let someone older take care of it?"

Naruto sighed as he readied his hands to perform the handseals that he'd need. "I can't. As Hokage, this is my duty. I know that the village and my family will understand." Without giving himself another chance to reconsider, Naruto performed the handsigns, summoning the Death God.

With Gamabunta's help, they got closer and Naruto gripped the Bijuu. He struggled to pull its soul out and, finally, after several long minutes, he succeeded and sealed the Bijuu into his body along with the Kyuubi.

As the seal completed, blackness crept into Naruto's vision. As he began to fall, he whispered, "Hinata, Kiari, I'm so sorry."

-15 years later-

A blonde teenager sat in the living room of her house. She smiled as she thought of how unusual the day was. Usually her or her brother were away on missions, but today they were both home. As she sat in the living room, her eyes drifted to two picture frames that were situated above the fireplace. "Hey, Mom, who's in these pictures?"

Hinata Namikaze looked up and saw where her daughter was pointing. She stood up and picked up the frames to show her two children, 17-year-old Kiari and her 14-year-old (soon to be 15 as he fondly kept mentioning) little brother Daiki.

Hinata started with the photo of the family. "This photo was one that your father was most fond of. He loved his family almost more than anything. He loved his job as Rokudaime just a little more though."

The two kids both had their own reactions to this news. Kiari responded by saying, "Dad was Rokudaime! So, that's him on the mountain! Beside Konohamaru-hokage-sama!" Daiki, after studying the picture and running a hand through his messy blonde hair, looked up, "How come I'm not in that picture? Kiari is."

Hinata sighed. She knew that this would come up eventually. "This picture was taken before you were born, Daiki. Your father…Naruto…he also… died before you were born."

Daiki looked down at the picture again. "He looks just like me."

Hinata smiled. "You two do look very similar."

"I'm jealous," Daiki whispered almost to himself.

"Why, Daiki?" the other two asked him.

"Well, it's just that…" Daiki began, poking his two index fingers together as he talked, a trait that he'd clearly picked up from his mother. "Kiari knew Dad, but I never did.

"I didn't know him that well, stupid. I was only two when he died!" Sensing the rift that was forming in the air, she asked, "So, who's in the other picture?"

Hinata passed them the picture. "That's your grandfather, Naruto's father. If it helps, Daiki, Naruto's father died before he could get to know him too. Strangely, they both died in similar situations."

"Can you tell the story? How'd they die? How'd Dad die?" Kiari asked, curious to know the story.

"Well, both died on the night that great forces attacked this village. They sacrificed their lives for the hopes, dreams, and love that this village shares," Hinata told them.

Tears came to Kiari's eyes. Just like Hinata, she could be very emotional at times. "That's so sad. Why would they do something like that?"

Hinata smiled. This was a question that she knew she could answer. "They felt that they had to. It was their duty to protect their village AS HOKAGE."  
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**I decided while writing this and with the help of a friend to make a "happy" ending as well. This is version one: the sad ending.**

**Before I forgot, I'd like to credit my friend Lace for the two kids' names. I'm horrible at that stuff.**

**Look for the other version as well. It's slightly different than this one. Also, I'm gonna to make a profile poll soon. If you read both, vote for the better one. Credit for that idea goes to Lace as well. ^_^**

**~YondaimeNamikaze~**


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